Our Favorite Cookbooks for Kids

Noodlemania! 50 Playful Pasta Recipes

Melissa Barlow's whimsically illustrated book features the requisite recipe for mac-and-cheese, plus more surprising offerings, such as a cinnamon-noodle sundae. $15.95, amazon.com

ChopChop: The Kids' Guide to Cooking Real Food With Your Family

Like its namesake magazine, Sally Sampson's collection of new and reprinted recipes focuses on healthy eats. Chapters cover main meals, drinks, and desserts, with how-to tips and clever ideas sprinkled in. $19.99, amazon.com

Grandpa's Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Cookbook

Judi and Ron Barrett revisit the fabled town of Chewandswallow in this appealingly illustrated book and give simple instructions for amusing fare, such as Foggy Pea Soup and Jell-O Setting in the West. $17.99, simonandschuster.com

Originally published in the December/January 2014 issue of Family Fun magazine.

What's Cooking? How-to Sauté

Cooking Class

An appealing blend of fun techniques (flowers made of fruit, anyone?) and practical recipes (omelets, apple crisp) make former FamilyFun editor Deanna F. Cook's creative new cookbook for kids, is a must-have for any budding chef. The recipe variations and open-ended projects let kids take their culinary creativity to the next level. Ages 6 and up $18.95, storey.com

Originally published in the March 2015 issue of FamilyFun magazine.

Smoothie-Licious

Written by Jenna Helwig, food editor at our sister publication Parents, this is the ultimate cool-off cookbook. Inventive recipes, such as Kiwi Slush and Granola Bar in a Glass, are a refreshing departure from the typical fruit and yogurt fare, and simple three-ingredient treats, such as Nutella Banana Cream, allow older kids to whirl up an icy treat all on their own.

Originally published in the June/July 2015 issue of FamilyFun magazine.